HetaliaxFrozen
by hetalia-baltics
Summary: Mostly a Frozen AU with the Baltics as the main characters, labeled as a crossover because of Sven and Olaf. With Prince Raivis taking Elsa's role and the newly crowned King Toris taking Anna's, we see how the plot will both change and stay the same. Rated T to be safe. Pairings in the story so far are FrUK and EstLiet. There will be yaoi, but it is not the main focus of the story
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen, nor do I own Hetalia or any of the characters in this fanfiction. Disney owns Frozen and Himaruya owns Hetalia_

_Cast in this chapter:_

_Lithuania as Anna_

_Latvia as Elsa_

* * *

"The sky is awake…" Eight year old Toris sat up in his bed, eyes glistening with wonder at the display of northern lights outside his window. The bright colors shimmered in the sky, giving the entire room a beautiful glow. He crawled to the foot of the bed and eased himself down, shivering a little as his bare feet hit the cold floor. This display was something that he had never before seen, and he wanted to get a closer look.

Climbing a little clumsily into the window, he pressed his face against the glass in awe. The peaceful greens and blues in the sky were completely breathtaking. They reminded him a little bit of his beloved little brother, his playful and slightly reserved best friend from birth. The other was still fast asleep, curled into a ball with his blankets covering him completely. Surely the six year old wouldn't want to miss out on such a magical sight.

"Raivis," He giggled excitedly as he jumped into his brother's bed. He shook the younger's shoulders gently, easing him into consciousness. "Raivis, wake up. Come see this," he encouraged, giving him one more little shake. "Come on."

"Toris," the other responded into his pillow. He was amused at his big brother's enthusiasm, but was still a bit too tired to respond to it. He shifted a little bit so that he was buried deeper into the comfort of his blankets. "What is it? Go back to sleep."

"But _Raivis_," Toris pouted, pulling the covers off of the other. "Just look. The sky is awake, so I'm awake." He gave Raivis' arm a little tug, but miscalculated the width of the bed and consequentially slumped down onto the floor. This stirred a reaction from the younger child, who looked down at his brother and giggled.

The lights were indeed beautiful, but Raivis didn't see them in the same way as Toris did. It was a part of the winter time, just like ice and snow. Sure, it was new to him, but in a way he already knew what it was. He pulled the blankets back over his shoulders, watching the lights with admiration but still feeling a bit drowsy. The glow in the room was soothing, and he felt himself drifting back into sleep. His brother would probably notice this and go to bed as well.

Raivis was wrong. Toris seated himself on the floor by his bed, gazing out the window still. It was too late for him to go back to bed; he was too restless now. He didn't want to continue bothering his little brother if he was trying to sleep, but it was all too tempting. The magic outside fueled his desire to play, and there was only one person in the world he wanted to play with right now.

Silence was broken by soft rustling as Toris climbed back into his brother's bed and wrapped both arms around him, cuddling him like a teddy bear. The six year old wrinkled his nose and opened one eye, glancing at his older brother with a little smile before closing his eyes again. Toris and Raivis were inseparable, the only ones who fully understood each other. They knew and relied on each other more than anyone could imagine possible for two small children. Toris decided to give one last shot in getting his brother out of bed, using the same tactic he always used when the other was feeling either distant or in a bad mood. There was never a time that this didn't work, and he was surprised that Raivis didn't expect it by now. Leaning closer, Toris smiled a little bit mischievously before whispering the question in his little brother's ear.

"Do you wanna build a snowman?"

* * *

The soft sounds of pattering footsteps and bubbly giggles could be heard across the hallway as the two young princes ran out of their room, hand in hand toward a long staircase. They raced each other down to the floor below, Toris taking the steps while Raivis slid on the stair rail. When they reached the bottom, they joined hands again as they crossed a couple more halls into an open ballroom. Both bounced in excitement as they made their way to the center of the room.

"Do the magic," Toris encouraged eagerly. The younger smiled in response and formed a little flurry of snow between his hands, launching it into the air to fill the top of the ballroom with snow clouds. Toris' eyes sparkled in amazement as the snow began to quickly accumulate on the ground. For extra measure, Raivis extended his power to cover the ballroom floor in a sheet of ice, and coated one half of that in a thick blanket of snow, so they now had both an ice rink and a place to play.

Toris took both of Raivis' hands and skidded along the ice, letting the other use his power to push them along. He held onto his little brother as they skated in circles and only let go of him to flop down into a snow pile. Raivis laughed and decided to join him, jumping into the pile of snow as well.

"Come on, Toris, let's build a snowman!" The younger child exclaimed as he formed a large snowball in his hands and dropped it down onto the ground. Toris started rolling snow to help build the body, and both children worked on the snowman's head together. They purposefully made a unique shape in comparison to the typical snowball head, and it wasn't long at all before their little creation was just about finished.

"Is he done?" Toris asked as he sat down in the snow. Raivis circled around their snowman, inspecting it before shaking his head.

"He doesn't have a nose," he replied. "He needs a nose."

Toris looked over their new friend as well before nodding in agreement. "Yeah… Wait here. I'll be right back."

"Don't slip on the ice!" Raivis burst into laughter as his older brother ran toward the door and inevitably slipped, falling on his butt and sliding a little ways.

"Make the ice go away until I get back," he suggested, trying to stand and sprawling back down.

"I don't know how," Raivis admitted. "Here." He made a path of snow on top of the ice that led to the doorway. "Hurry, don't get caught."

"I won't," Toris promised as he appreciatively crawled onto the soft snow before standing up and rushing out the door. He carefully snuck down the hall and into the kitchen. He hadn't been there more than maybe twice, so it took him awhile to find what he was looking for. When he finally found the fresh vegetables, he grabbed one of the best carrots he could find and ran back toward the ballroom, hoping that he didn't keep his little brother waiting too long.

Raivis was lying in the snow, experimenting with his ice powers while he waited for the other to return. He covered his mouth to suppress a laugh when he heard a shriek as Toris once again slipped on the ice on his way in and fell flat on his back.

"How are you so clumsy?"

"You missed a spot," Toris objected with a lighthearted smile. "But that's ok. You're still learning." He handed the carrot to his little brother and ruffled his hair playfully. "There you are. You can put the nose on if you want to."

"Thanks!" The younger bounded over to the snowman that they built and stuck the carrot in its proper place before taking a step back to admire the work. "What's his name going to be?"

"His name is Olaf," Toris decided. "And he likes warm hugs!"

Raivis giggled with delight and wrapped his arms around the snowman. "I love Olaf."

"Me too." He smiled fondly at his little brother. These were the times that both of them cherished the most, when they could forget about being young princes and could actually act like kids. It was one of the reasons why Toris knew that they would always be best friends forever.

The pair spent the next couple of hours playing together in the snow. They were beginning to think it was time to get back to bed, but Raivis had a better idea for one more game. He formed a snowball in his hands and tossed it at his big brother, successfully striking his shoulder. The other laughed and retaliated with a snowball of his own, but he knew right away that he would be no match.

"You have the upper hand because of your ice powers," he accused, running from his little brother's attacks and hiding behind a snow pile.

"That's the point," Raivis chimed as he chased Toris down. "You're not going to win. You're not good enough with the snow," he teased.

"But I have higher ground now," Toris argued, climbing on top of one of the snow piles and launching a few snowballs down at the six year old. He jumped from one snow pile to another to avoid the retaliations. "Try and catch me!"

Raivis laughed as he tried to chase his brother, occasionally throwing snow at him to slow him down. This was normal for them; they played this way all the time. After all of the times that their parents warned both of them not to play with the ice powers so freely, they never really listened. Toris especially, since he was the eldest, had been warned time and time again not to encourage such free use of the powers. He saw no harm in them despite the constant nagging; never before had Raivis' powers done anything to harm anyone. As far as the two children knew, they were completely harmless.

Neither realized how quickly things could change, and how one moment, one accident, could change their entire lives. And it all happened because of one slip.

Raivis continued to chase his brother, preparing to launch another snowball at him when it happened. One misstep from the snow out onto the ice, and suddenly the younger prince was falling. It wasn't a bad fall of any sort, but it was powerful enough in the moment to send a shockwave of fear through the child's body. The fear transformed the very nature of his powers, and the snow that he intended to launch at Toris turned into an icy blast. The eldest turned at the sound of his brother's frightened cry, and was consequentially struck in the forehead by the unintended shot.

"Toris!" Raivis stared in horror as the eight year old let out a pained cry and crumpled to the ground, unconscious in the snow.

He ran to his brother's side, pulling him into his arms. A shocked gasp escaped his lips as he watched one steak of Toris' dark hair turn white. "No, wake up! Please!" Tears welled up in the young prince's eyes as he began to tremble, holding his dearest friend close to him in some attempt to bring him back. "You're ok, Toris, you're going to be ok…"

Ice and frost filled the room as Raivis started to panic. His brother gave him no response, no indication that he was conscious, let alone alive. A lump formed in Raivis' throat at this realization. He closed his eyes tightly and started to sob, tears rushing down his face as he hugged his brother tighter.

"Mama! Papa!"

* * *

_Reminder that the story will not follow the plotline of Frozen 100%. Many changes were made purposefully so that my own imagination could be thrown into this. If you like it, please let me know! Thank you!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: __I do not own Frozen, nor do I own Hetalia or any of the characters in this fanfiction. Disney owns Frozen and Himaruya owns Hetalia_

_Characters for this chapter:_

_Lithuania as Anna_

_Latvia as Elsa_

_Estonia as Kristoff (brief mention)_

_Britain as Pabbie (the troll, or in this case sorcerer) _

_King and Queen are only temporary supporting characters and remain nameless_

* * *

"Raivis! What have you done?!" The king of the Baltic sector rushed into the room, taking his older son into his arms as the queen knelt beside him in shock. It had taken several minutes for them to hear the cries of their youngest son and run down to the ballroom to see what was wrong. By the time they arrived, Toris' body was ice cold, and he was completely unresponsive to his father.

"It was an accident," Raivis replied with a choked sob. He reached toward his unconscious brother with trembling hands, but didn't dare touch him. He feared that this would only make it worse. "I… I'm so sorry Toris. I'm so, so sorry."

The queen put a gentle hand on Toris' forehead. She was troubled by his temperature, and the fear for his life showed in his wide blue eyes. "He's so cold. What can we do? There has to be something."

"There is," the king replied, his voice filled with urgency. "There's one person who can fix this, but we have to be quick. Both of you come with me; hurry." As he led his wife and youngest son out of the ballroom, he first went out to two of the night guards to give them hasty orders. "Prepare two horses for us. Quickly. There isn't a minute to waste."

He ran with the rest of his family into the library and passed his eldest son to his wife's arms while he searched for a map. "There is one person, a sorcerer who lives in a small village not far from the kingdom, along with trolls and other people who possess unique wisdom and power. If anyone can save our son," he continued as he pulled a wrinkled map from one of the old books, "it is him."

Within minutes, the king and queen mounted their horses, Raivis riding with his mother while the king carried Toris on his horse. They rode hurriedly out of the kingdom and through the forest, leaving a trail of ice on the grass from the fear that radiated from Raivis' trembling body. Nobody knew exactly what would happen next, but they knew it was a race against the clock. They traveled through the thicker woods on narrow trails to avoid too many obstacles.

In their urgency, they didn't even notice when they almost ran over a young, blonde-haired orphan boy and his reindeer, who were traveling in the opposite direction on a sled with their one block of ice that they harvested earlier that night. There was no notice or concern from the royal family when the little orphan boy followed them, for they had much more pressing matters at the moment. It didn't matter much who saw the sorcery, as long as Toris' life was saved.

The little boy stared in wonder as he arrived at the border of the village. He kept his distance, staying carefully hidden as he watched the family wander about. The king was calling out for help now, circling around the small area with desperation in his voice while his wife and youngest child stood still, waiting anxiously for some sort of response. Just when all home seemed lost, the sorcerer and a few residents of his village began to come out of their homes. The sorcerer was easily distinguishable from the rest: his piercing green eyes stared straight into the soul, and his cloak was long, plain, and black, as oppose to the colorful, tribal dress that the other villagers wore.

"It's the king," the villagers whispered among themselves. They were not silenced until the sorcerer pushed past them and into the clearing. He locked gazes with the king and queen for a fleeting moment before kneeling down to look at Raivis.

"Arthur," the king addressed. "Please, you have to help my son. He could be dying."

The sorcerer glanced back up at the king and queen with an unreadable expression. "I am aware," he replied, reaching out to take Raivis' hands. "Tell me: was he born with the powers, or was he cursed?"

"Born," the king replied softly. He knelt down as well, so he and Toris were on the same level as Raivis and Arthur. "And they're getting stronger. Is there anything you can do?"

Arthur released Raivis' hands and moved to take a look at Toris. He gave no verbal reply to the question at first, but answered with a simple nod of the head as he continued to examine the older child. He had no power to control Raivis' ice powers, but he was completely capable of cleaning up after the accident that occurred because of them. "You are lucky it was his head and not his heart. The heart is not so easily changed, but the head… the head can be persuaded."

Raivis hugged his mother, watching the scene with anxiety still present in his eyes. "What are you going to do to him?"

"Fear not, young Raivis. No harm will come to him," the sorcerer promised. "But to keep him safe, I have to remove all traces of magic from his head, even the memories." He cupped Toris' head in his hands and closed his eyes, drawing out the magic as he said that he would, and replacing each memory with a similar one without any indication of ice powers. "I leave the fun," he promised. "Your relationship with your brother goes unchanged. He will be fine."

Raivis looked down at the ground, where frost began to form beneath his feet. "But… but he won't remember I have powers?"

Arthur looked into the child's eyes. He moved away from Toris to place both hands on Raivis' shoulders. "Your powers will only grow more powerful with age. While there is beauty and strength in them, there is also danger. Fear will be your enemy; you must be brave, and you must learn to control it, or it will consume you."

"He will," the king promised. He gazed down at Toris, who was finally starting to show some signs of life. "Both of my sons are strong boys."

"I understand that," Arthur replied, "but you still have to be careful with these types of things. We were lucky this time. Next time may not be as fortunate."

"He will learn to control his powers," he insisted. "It will take him no time at all. He's already very skilled with them… but to be sure, we'll take precautions. We'll close the gates and reduce the staff. We'll limit his contact with other people until he gets it under control."

"But what about Toris?" Raivis whispered hoarsely. "I can still play with him, right?"

"Not until you can get your powers under control. Let that motivate you, son." The king hid his own worry by smiling and ruffling his youngest son's hair. "Everything will be fine."

The king's empty promise and fake smile brought Raivis no comfort. He wanted to believe it to be true, but the actions that followed his father's words proved this to be false. In a matter of days, everything changed. The gates were closed, most of the staff was gone. The halls that were once filled with smiling people were completely vacant, and young Raivis was given a new room, where he had to live alone until his powers were under control. On the last day of the transition, he helped the staff move the last of his belongings into his new room while Toris stood in the doorway of the room they once shared, watching in despair. Nobody told him why this was happening, but he hated it. He hated how empty his room was without his beloved brother. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to stay strong through this and accept the change as he looked into his little brother's eyes for the last time in a long, long time. The younger returned the gaze solemnly, forcing the brokenness he felt deep in his chest to be hidden from his face as he took a deep breath and slowly shut the door.

* * *

_Thanks for reading~ Chapter three is in the works. Reviews would be greatly appreciated!_


	3. Chapter 3

___Disclaimer: __I do not own Frozen, nor do I own Hetalia or any of the characters in this fanfiction. Disney owns Frozen and Himaruya owns Hetalia_

_I find the time-skippy stuff to be absolutely dreadful, but it had to be done for this chapter. The following chapters will be better quality, I promise, but the show must go on! I hope that everyone is enjoying this story. It's a bit of a struggle for me, but I definitely am~_

_Characters in this chapter:_

_Lithuania as Anna_

_Latvia as Elsa_

* * *

Toris woke up early one morning; the moment that light began to fill his room. A couple of weeks had passed since the incident that he had no memory of, and loneliness was beginning to nag at him. He crawled out of bed and scampered across the vacant room. Climbing into the window, he gazed out at the gentle snowfall with a faint gleam in his eyes. The glistening snow that softly blanketed the ground outside reminded him of happier days, before Raivis moved out of the room. Many of their fondest memories were in the snow, he remembered. Maybe the beautiful weather would coax his little brother out for once. He smiled at the thought and jumped down from the window, running out the door and down the hallway to his little brother's room.

"Raivis?" Toris stood on his tiptoes, bouncing a little with a combination of nervousness and excitement. He wanted to see his brother again more than anything. Taking a hopeful breath, he lightly knocked on the other's door. "Do you wanna build a snowman?" he chimed, pressing his ear against the wooden door to listen for a response. "Come on, let's go play!"

He waited for a moment, keeping his ear to the door. Silence ensued. "Please, Raivis? I never see you anymore; it's like you've gone away. We used to be best buddies… and now we're not." He sighed wistfully, trying to peek into the room through the key hole. "I wish you would tell me why. Raivis, don't you want to build a snowman?" He pressed his lips against the key hole with hope in his little eyes. "It doesn't have to be a snowman," he added. The smile quickly disappeared from his face when he heard his little brother respond from the other side of the door.

"Go away, Toris."

The older child felt his heart sink at the three words, and his entire face fell with disappointment as the feeling of utter loneliness returned. "Okay, bye," he replied in barely a whisper. Turning away from the room dejectedly, he kept one hand pressed to the wooden frame for a brief moment as he slowly let go of all hope that his brother would change his mind. He dropped his hand to his side slowly, and walked back into his own room with his shoulders slumped and his eyes fixed to the ground. Maybe tomorrow would be different.

Meanwhile, Raivis was in a struggle of his own. He tried to push back the loneliness he felt in a desperation to control his powers. It seemed by his mannerisms that he cared more about his powers then he did about his family. It was not so. In his eyes, and in the eyes of his parents, he was putting his family and the staff first by keeping them safe. He sighed softly as he stared out the window at the beautiful snowfall. He wanted to be out there to enjoy the weather, but he couldn't. He had to stay inside, he had to stay isolated. Harming another friend or family member was not an option.

He yelped in astonishment when his door swung open, disrupting his thoughts. It terrified him for a brief moment as the memories of what he had done to his big brother flashed through his mind. He sighed in relief when his father walked in and put two gentle hands on his shoulders.

"It's just me, Raivis. How are you, son?" He looked into the young prince's eyes with love and concern, which settled the child a bit.

"I don't know what to do…" he replied softly. His powers were taking over his life, and he was still so young. He didn't want to be stuck in his room anymore. He wanted to be happy again.

"Here." The king reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of gloves, slipping them on Raivis' hands. "The gloves should help. How is this?"

The six-year-old looked down at his hands and then back up at his father. It seemed to have worked at least a little bit. He walked slowly back toward the window and touched it gingerly with a gloved hand. No ice formed on the glass; this was an improvement. Things would be looking up for sure. "Thank you papa… I think this will help…"

"Remember," the king replied softly. "Conceal it, don't feel it. Don't let it show."

With a deep breath, the young prince repeated his father's works, looking down at his hands as he did so. "Yes papa… I won't. I promise."

* * *

Three years of the same routine, and Toris never gave up. Every day, he gave his younger brother's door a knock, called in to him, offered to talk or play. He felt like he would fail his best friend if he ever stopped coming to visit him, no matter how many times he was pushed away. It was now exactly three years after the incident, and absolutely nothing changed. With the snow outside, Toris tried once more to coax his nine year old brother out with the same offer.

"Do you wanna build a snowman? Come on, Raivis," he encouraged. "Isn't it lonely in there?" He sat down by the door and placed his hands against it. "I think some company is overdue for both of us… Mom and dad are never around anymore… and, well… There's nobody to talk to. Please, Raivis, I know you can hear me."

Raivis was at the other end, pacing worriedly as he stared down at his hands. _Soon he will leave, _he told himself. He didn't want his brother so close to him. Through the past three years he tried and tried to control his powers, but they only strengthened within him, and became more difficult to manage. Even now, everything he touched with bare hands turned cold and icy upon contact. He hoped that Toris would go away before he noticed the temperature difference near the door, but the more anxious he got, the worse it became.

"Conceal it, don't feel it," he whispered to himself, biting down on his lip as he continued to pace edgily. "Don't let it show."

The gloves his father provided were helpful for touch, but there was so much range to his ice powers that they couldn't hold back. The temperature, for example, was something that radiated from his body and not just his hands. The room was slowly freezing around him. Every passing second that Toris stayed at the door only made it worse. Just as solid ice was beginning to form on the walls, he heard his brother's voice from the other side of the room.

"Ok, bye then…"

Thank goodness for that. Nothing in the room thawed at that moment, but the freezing began to subside. Toris would be safe another day at least, but how much longer could this continue? Raivis used to let his parents try and help him, but now he didn't even wish for that. He didn't want to risk hurting them either. The isolation had to go on.

* * *

Four more years, and Toris had grown into the slightly quirky but gentle and kind prince that his parents knew he would become. They knew that he would make a fine king one day, but worried a little bit now about how the closed gates were affecting him. They wanted him to be aware of his surroundings, and they wanted him to learn to be sociable. Talking to inanimate objects and his brother through the door didn't help much with this skill.

The decision was finally made that the king and queen would travel west over the Baltic Sea to work out trade agreements between kingdoms. They chose to take their time in these matters, and leave Toris in charge of the kingdom for two weeks.

After going over everything the young prince needed to know to properly run the kingdom, the day finally arrived for his parents' departure. Toris ran down the hallway, pausing only for a brief moment outside his little brother's room before continuing down the stairs and pulling both of his parents into a hug. "See you in two weeks."

The queen smiled, cupping her son's face in her hands. "Look at you, almost grown now. I'm so proud of you. Take care of the kingdom, love; just be yourself and everyone will love you almost as much as we do." She gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead and stepped back, taking her husband's arm as they prepared to depart.

A timid voice from behind them redirected Toris' attention. He was not at all expecting Raivis to have already been downstairs. Actually, he didn't expect him to be outside of his room at all, but there he was.

"Do you have to go?" the thirteen-year-old asked softly, looking up at his parents before fixing his nervous gaze to the floor.

His father took a step toward him, wanting to do or say anything to reassure his younger son. Raivis took a couple of precautionary steps back in response, and didn't look up to meet his eyes again. The king frowned, but didn't try to push any farther.

"You will be fine, Raivis."

Toris turned away from his brother to wave as his parents one more time as they departed. When he turned back around, his brother was gone.

"No, wait!" He quickly ran up the stairs, trying to catch his little brother before he disappeared from the world again. It was too late; he heard the door shut the moment he reached the top of the stairs. "Raivis!" He quickly reached the door and pressed his hands against it, trembling a little bit with a combination of frustration and distress. "Why are you always doing this? You don't want mom and dad to leave, but I'm right here. I can help you too if you would just let me… I want to help you, just… _let me_." He closed his eyes tightly, biting down on his lower lip. "I don't understand," he whispered, brushing a strand of hair from his face as he slowly backed away from the door. "I want to talk to you again. I want my brother back."

"Leave," Raivis replied sharply from the other end of the door. He was curled up in the corner of his room, trying to fight back against the powers that were taking control over him. It killed him inside that his big brother was getting so upset over this, but nothing could change yet.

"Fine," Toris replied. His voice was soft-spoken, but loud enough to be heard. "Hide away like you always have. I'm going to open the gates tomorrow though, so I can see my kingdom. If you change your mind and want to go outside with me, you're always welcome to…" he backed away from the door and retreated to make his own preparations, blinking away the angry tears that threatened to form in his eyes. He shouldn't have been too worked up about something that was already expected of his brother. He had more important things to do anyway.

Toris spent the rest of the evening preparing to have the gates opened. He knew it would only be for a couple of weeks while his parents were away, but he wanted to make sure that he did everything right. He studied his kingdom, making sure to self-teach himself everything that he hadn't yet learned. For his little brother's sake, he decided to go out among his people rather than having anyone go into the castle. He figured there would be a day sometime in the future where that could happen, but not too soon. The smile eventually returned to his face as he finished up the last bit of his studies; he was excited to meet everybody.

All of the anticipation, however, very quickly turned into a nightmare for the royal family. It happened so fast, in fact, that Toris didn't even believe it at first. It was early the next morning, and he was getting ready to get up and open the gates when he heard a very urgent knocking on his door. His stomach twisted into knots at the sound; something was definitely wrong. Turning slowly, he approached the door and answered it, shocked to see three unfamiliar faces. The one immediately in front of him was a middle-aged man, trembling and kneeling at Toris' feet. Tears rushed down his face and silent sobs of combined fear and sorrow silenced him for a long time, while the other two stood at either side of him with grave expressions.

"I'm so sorry your highness," the trembling one cried. "I'm so, so sorry. Forgive me, I tried. I tried..."

Toris felt his heart ache at the man's pain, and knelt down so he was at his level. He put his hands on both of the older man's shoulders gently and looked into his eyes.

"It is alright," he replied softly. "I believe you, but you need to tell me what happened."

Looking up at the future ruler, the middle-aged man took a deep breath in an attempt to force the information from his lips. Though there was nothing that he could have done, he felt that it was his fault; he found that he was worried not only for his own fate, but for the princes' as well.

"This ship that the king and queen traveled on last night… got caught in a storm at sea," he choked out. "It was late at night, you may have slept through the storm, your highness, but the winds were rough. The waves were brutal and I… I couldn't keep control over my ship."

Toris didn't react to this at first. It felt completely unreal to him, like he was walking in a dream or a nightmare that was just so absurd; he knew it wasn't real even as he was dreaming it.

"Where are they now?" he asked softly. He kept his voice gentle even though inside his heart was beginning to pound fast and hard in his chest.

"The ship went under," the man murmured softly under his breath. "It sank and they were still in it. I was the only survivor; found by a fishing boat and brought back here. I tried to save them… I tried. I really tried." He looked into Toris' eyes with a deep sorrow. "Your parents are dead."

Suddenly in that instant, time completely froze. Toris' breath caught in his throat, and he felt that he couldn't breathe at all. The only thing he could feel was an almost painfully heavy pounding in his chest and a ringing in his ears from the sudden, eerie silence. The reality of the situation slapped him in the face with an agonizing amount of force, and his eyes widened with shock and disbelief.

The prince used his door frame to support himself as he got back to his feet, shaking his head slowly. His chest tightened as his hands started to tremble, and he only made it a couple of steps backward into his room before slumping to the floor again.

"Mama… papa…" he whimpered. He suddenly felt like a helpless child again, lost and alone. One of the young men that accompanied the ship captain rushed to his side, getting down beside him in an attempt to get him back to his feet, but Toris ignored him. He covered his face with both hands, taking deep breaths to try and fight the raging storm of emotions that clouded his sense of reason.

"Prince Toris…"

"Leave me be," he replied hoarsely, pulling away from the young man who tried to assist him. "Please…"

"The funeral will be held this evening," he replied softly. "I'm sorry…"

"Leave," Toris repeated. He kept his face buried in his hands as the three men slowly departed, leaving him alone in his room. Loneliness was something he was used to, but this was unimaginable. He inhaled slowly, trying to regain control over himself, but the pain was too great. With another deep breath, he finally broke down into heavy sobs, leaning against a wall as he cried bitterly into his hands.

How could it be? From prince to king at the age of fifteen, over the death of his parents, and now he was really alone. No matter how many times he denied it in his head, the only people he ever loved were all gone from his life. How could he be a king to his people now? He couldn't; he wasn't ready. Anyone could see that.

For the first time, Toris realized a different kind of pain: being shut in rather than being shut out. He hugged his knees and kept his face hidden in his arms for hours, completely ignoring the staff members who frequently knocked on his door to make sure he was ok. He didn't eat, he didn't speak. He didn't even bother to move from that very spot in his room until he had to get ready for the funeral. _So this is how Raivis feels… _

"Raivis." Toris had barely finished getting dressed for the funeral and was running a brush through his disheveled hair when his brother came to mind. His dear brother, the one person he had left.

The funeral was short, by Toris' request. Many people arrived to grieve over their wonderful rulers. It seemed the whole kingdom came at some point or another. Only one person didn't arrive, the one and only person Toris wanted to see: his brother. Without Raivis, he had to bury his parents alone, and that was more painful than anything else. It weighed on him for the rest of the evening; he was the last person to go when the burial was over. He walked slowly, keeping his head down as he re-entered the castle. The gates were shut behind him, and he didn't even care. Nothing mattered anymore; life itself just seemed so purposeless.

As he made his way numbly up the stairs toward his room, he paused by the closed door that he knew so well. He pressed his ear to the cold surface and heard sniffling from right inside.

"Raivis…" Toris whispered. The whimpers and quiet sobs from the other end of the door stopped abruptly when he knocked gently on the door. "Raivis?" he repeated a little louder, pressing his forehead to the door as tears formed in his eyes again. "Please… I know you're in there. I'm right out here for you… just… just let me in." He turned around and leaned against the door, slowly sinking to the ground. "We only have each other now. It's just you and me. Please, let me in. Raivis…" His head drooped as tears ran down his cheeks. He found himself asking the question that used to always work, even though he knew now that it was pointless. "Do you want to build a snowman?"

Raivis was sitting against the door as well, back to back with his brother and surrounded by ice and snow. He wanted nothing more than to throw the door open and hug the other tightly, but he knew that he couldn't. That was what killed him; the last person he had left in his life had to be pushed away, or he would be gone forever too. The blonde choked up when he heard his older brother ask the old question, the one he hadn't heard for so many years. He gave up trying to not care and cried silently as well, turning a little to press one gloved hand to the door.

In that moment since their young childhood, Toris and Raivis had never been so close to each other, but it was a hollow, physical closeness. At the same time, they were both so much lonelier than ever before. "I do," Raivis whispered, blinking as he stared down at his trembling hands. He knew that his words were too quiet to be heard, but oh how he longed to say these things aloud. "So much, Toris… I do. I want to build a snowman… with you."


End file.
